Occurrence of apomictic conspecifics and ecological preferences rather than colonization history govern the geographic distribution of sexual Potentilla puberula

Flavia Domizia Nardi, Karl Hülber, Dietmar Moser, Henar Alonso-Marcos, Andreas Tribsch, Christoph Dobeš

Publications: Contribution to journalArticlePeer Reviewed

Abstract

The geographic distribution of sexual-apomictic taxa (i.e., comprising individuals usually reproducing either sexually or asexually via seeds) is traditionally thought to be driven by their ecological preferences and colonization histories. Where sexuals and apomicts get into contact with each other, competitive and reproductive interactions can interfere with these factors, an aspect which hitherto received little attention in biogeographic studies. We disentangled and quantified the relative effects of the three factors on the distribution of tetraploid sexuals in Potentilla puberula in a latitudinal transect through the Eastern European Alps, in which they are codistributed with penta-, hepta-, and octoploid apomictic conspecifics. Effects were explored by means of binomial generalized linear regression models combining a single with a multiple predictor approach. Postglacial colonization history was inferred from population genetic variation (AFLPs and cpDNA) and quantified using a cost distance metric. The study was based on 235 populations, which were purely sexual, purely apomictic, or of mixed reproductive mode. The occurrence of apomicts explained most of the variation in the distribution of sexuals (31%). Specifically, the presence of sexual tetraploids was negatively related to the presence of each of the three apomictic cytotypes. Effects of ecological preferences were substantial too (7% and 12% of the total variation explained by ecological preferences alone, or jointly with apomicts’ occurrence, respectively). In contrast, colonization history had negligible effects on the occurrence of sexuals. Taken together, our results highlight the potentially high impact of reproductive interactions on the geographic distribution of sexual and apomictic conspecifics and that resultant mutual exclusion interrelates to ecological differentiation, a situation potentially promoting their local coexistence.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7306-7319
Number of pages14
JournalEcology and Evolution
Volume10
Issue number14
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2020

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

  • 106030 Plant ecology
  • 106008 Botany

Keywords

  • apomixis
  • ecological preferences
  • European Alps
  • geographic distribution
  • postglacial colonization
  • reproductive interference

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